Every Child Matters Day/Orange Shirt Day Lecture
Behind the Bricks of the Mohawk Institute
Date: Wednesday, Sept. 30
Time: 6:00pm
Location: Castellani Art Museum
Speaker: Rick Hill
This presentation will explore the history of the Mohawk Institute, which first opened in 1828 and closed in 1970 as a failed assimilation experiment of the New England Company and the Canadian government. What happened there has left an imprint on nearly every family at Six Nations of the Grand River, as well as the other communities whose children were sent there. Using documented history and survivor testimony, we will venture behind the brick facade and into the hearts and minds of government administrators, missionaries, teachers, and the children who attended. It is a journey of suffering, abuse and hardship, but also a testament to the enduring spirit of children and communities to deal with collective trauma.
Bio on Rick Hill
Rick Hill, vice president of the Niagara Academy for Indigenous Relations, is a renowned educator of Indigenous cultures, histories, and arts whose visionary work shaped the programming of several influential educational institutions including Deyohahá:ge: the Indigenous Knowledge Centre at Six Nations Polytechnic, Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian where he served as assistant director for Public Programs, Institute of American Indian Arts Museum in Santa Fe where he served as director, Native American Center for the Living Arts where he served as museum director, Niagara Falls Museums as an historian and advisor, and as a master lecturer at several post-secondary institutions including McMaster University, State University of New York at Buffalo, Six Nations Polytechnic, and First Nations Technical Institute among many others. Rick is the co-editor and contributing author of the book Landscape of Nations: Beyond The Mist, which examines the history of Indigenous peoples within the Niagara Region. He also served as content curator for an interpretative exhibition on the notorious Mohawk Institute. He is co-editor of a comprehensive study on the Mohawk Institute, titled Behind the Bricks, The Life and Times of the Mohawk Institute, Canada’s Longest-Running Residential School. As an accomplished artist, researcher, and writer, Rick has served as an Indigenous innovations specialist at Mohawk College and is currently the Research Director at the First Nations Technical Institute. Rick is a citizen of the Tuscarora Nation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, residing at the Grand River Territory
Peggy and John Day University Honors Lecture
What Comes Next? A Guide to Cancer Survivorship
Date: Thursday, Oct. 1
Time: 5:00pm
Location: Castellani Art Museum
Speakers: Alique Topalian, Ph.D. and Michele Seyranian
Learn about the unique needs and supportive services available to cancer survivors across the continuum. This session will talk about current priorities in cancer survivorship research, methods of care delivery, late and long-term effects of cancer treatment, and what it means to provide comprehensive survivorship care. We will discuss careers in the survivorship and supportive services space and share real world experiences on life after cancer
Bio on Alique Topalian
Alique Topalian is a 2-time cancer survivor. She is now in remission and using her voice to passionately raise awareness about the unique needs of cancer patients. Her experience with childhood cancer inspired her to obtain a Master’s in Public Health and a Ph.D. in Health Promotion and Education completing her degree in 2020. Little did she know that in March of 2021 she would relapse with AML, the first person to ever relapse after 22 years. During her time in active treatment, she used every opportunity to network, participate in psychosocial programming, and educate herself on resources available to patients in all stages of treatment. Alique was selected as a 2022 recipient of the 40 Under 40 in Cancer award and was recognized as 100 Influential Women in Oncology in 2024. She is sharing her experience with The University of Cincinnati as a Research Scientist to research patient experience, oncology primary care, cancer related cognitive impairment, adolescents and young adults (AYAs), and survivorship.
Bio on Michele Seyranian
Michele is the retiring CEO of The Gathering Place, a nonprofit cancer support center where she has spent recent years walking alongside patients, caregivers, and families throughout the cancer journey. Her leadership has focused on developing programs that address not only the medical realities of cancer, but also the emotional, practical, and long term needs that continue well beyond treatment.
A 1977 graduate of Niagara University, Michele spent the majority of her career—up until 2012—in the corporate sector, where she held leadership roles that strengthened her expertise in organizational development, strategic planning, and relationship building. These experiences shaped her ability to lead complex teams, navigate change, and build mission driven partnerships, all of which she later brought into her work in the nonprofit world. To aid in her transition into the nonprofit sector Michele earned a MNO from the Case Western Reserve University Weatherhead School of Business in 2005 where she was also an adjunct professor for 5 years.
Michele’s perspective is also deeply informed by her own family’s experience. As the mother of a two time AML survivor, she has lived the complex and enduring impact cancer has on caregivers and the extended family system. She speaks openly about the caregiver’s evolving role—as advocate, mentor, coordinator, and steady source of support—and how those responsibilities often continue long after active treatment ends.
Throughout her career, Michele has collaborated closely with oncology teams, nurses, and supportive care professionals. She emphasizes the essential role nurses play in recognizing and supporting the needs of caregivers, helping them navigate uncertainty, maintain resilience, and feel seen as integral members of the care team.
As she transitions into retirement, Michele remains committed to advancing young adult cancer support through volunteer work, advocacy, and continued collaboration with healthcare professionals and community partners.
McNulty Lecture
Alignments and Escapism: the Religious Work of Dungeons and Dragons
Date: Wednesday, Oct. 7
Time: 5:00pm
Location: Castellani Art Museum
Speaker: Joseph Laycock, Ph.D.
He will talk about the religious aspects of Dungeons and Dragons.
Bio on Joseph
Joseph Laycock is an associate professor of religious studies at Texas State University. He holds a MTS from Harvard Divinity School and a PhD from Boston University. He has written several books on new religious movements and American religious history. He is also a co-editor for the journal Nova Religio. He currently serves on the Programming Committee for the American Academy of Religion.
Hughes Endowed Lecture in the Health Sciences
Ministry, Medicine, and Mutuality in Global Missions
Date: Tuesday, Oct. 20
Time: 5:30pm
Location: Bisgrove 350/351
Speaker: Austin Barnett and Korinne Barnett, M.D.
We explore how missions and medicine intersect in ways that prioritize indigeneity and sustainable, gospel-centered care. Drawing from our experiences in ministry and medicine, we share how to recognize the difference between helping, empowering, and unintentionally replacing local leaders. We also share how to move from seeing communities primarily through their needs to recognizing their gifts, leaders, and God-given strengths, fostering partnerships that equip local people to lead lasting change.
Bios on Austin and Korinne
Austin and Korinne Barnett are passionate about serving others through leadership, discipleship, and medicine.
Austin earned his Executive Master of Business Administration from the University at Buffalo and serves as the Partnerships and Mobilization Director at a local Christian church. He leads global partnerships, church planting initiatives, and mobilization efforts to help ensure every man, woman, and child has repeated opportunities to hear and see the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Korinne earned her Master of Business Administration from Niagara University and her Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) from the University at Buffalo before completing a combined Internal Medicine-Pediatrics residency. She now serves as a hospitalist and acute care physician. Beyond her clinical work, she has served in Malawi, helping address childhood malnutrition, and in Haiti, providing medical care through community clinics. Together,
Austin and Korinne are committed to investing in people by equipping and empowering local pastors, healthcare providers, and ministry leaders to lead and serve their communities through sustainable, gospel-centered partnerships.
Albert the Great Lecture
Talking about What We Can't Talk About: From Everyday Life to Religion
Date: Thursday, Oct. 29
Time: 5:00pm
Location: Glynn Hall 407
Speaker: Lorraine Juliano Keller, Ph.D.
Bio on Lorraine
Lorraine Juliano Keller is associate professor of philosophy at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame in 2012. Her research interests include metaphysics, the philosophy of language, and the philosophy of religion, with particular emphasis on propositions, religious epistemology, and divine ineffability. Her papers have appeared in edited collections published by Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, and Routledge, as well as in journals such as Synthese, Erkenntnis, and Res Philosophica, where her paper, “Divine Ineffability and Franciscan Knowledge”, won the New Frontiers in Philosophy of Religion essay prize.
EDGE Lecture
NU EDGE: Ports and Passageways - Supply Chains in an Age of Geopolitical Disruption
Date: Thursday, Nov. 19
Time: 1:30pm – 2:50pm
Location: Russel J. Salvatore Dining Commons
Speaker: Robert “Bob” Wellner, ’71
It’s going to focus on the implications of the current Middle East conflict on pricing and availability of goods (including the Strait of Hormuz and other similar chokepoints) with relevance across various disciplines (supply chains, economics, management, and political science)
Bio on Bob
Robert “Bob” Wellner ’71 is a Niagara University alumnus and accomplished maritime transportation executive with more than 50 years of experience in global shipping, multimodal logistics, port operations, and supply-chain management. He served for 22 years as president and CEO of International Marine Carriers before co-founding Liberty Global Logistics, which he helped develop into an internationally recognized marine transportation and logistics company. Wellner has worked extensively with the U.S. Departments of Defense and Transportation and served as chair of the federal Marine Transportation System National Advisory Committee. He is currently a principal and director of Poseidon Americas, providing logistics and operational solutions across the transportation, energy, mining, and government-support sectors, with particular expertise in the Middle East.